


Back to haunt you

by BinaryIsForRobots



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Decisions, Bad Ideas, Body Horror, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Hidan (Naruto) Swears, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Mitsuki is a pure bean and I love him, Parental Orochimaru (Naruto), Protective Uchiha Sasuke, Sarada needs a hug pls, Sorry Not Sorry, To be honest, Zombies, i'm bad at a lot of things honestly, well one zombie at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:14:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22618465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BinaryIsForRobots/pseuds/BinaryIsForRobots
Summary: Keeping secrets almost never ends well. Eventually, those secrets are gonna come back to haunt you.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 75





	1. Luciferase

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this fic on my girlfriend. We started chatting, she pitched me this what-if, and long story short I banged out 3.6k words on my fucking smartphone during a slow day at work, and she and I polished up when I got home. So yeah, have yet another WiP added to my pile of WiPs. I BLAME YOU BABE.

* * *

* * *

Plip…

Plip...

Plip...

Water from a spring shower slowly trickles down into a moss covered hole, running over rocks and pooling down at the bottom. The faint glow of luminescent fungi and moss deep down went unseen. 

Over the years water washed and soil and nutrients into it, eventually causing a small ecosystem to form. Little caps and swathes of blueish green moss coated the rocks, grown away from the eyes of the world.One man, who rested comfortably in a village, who had since forgotten the location and horror it held and hid, a chapter long gone in his life.

The other was here, among spores and moss, in myriad rotting pieces.Hidan had been in this hole for Jashin only knew how long to himself now, lucidity fading with every passing moment.

His remaining eye- the one not covered in a thick coat of moss- sees nothing but the eerie blue glow around him. Time doesn't exist down here, but the bugs had long since left his face alone, so he assumes his body was similarly left be and infested with plant life. 

How very strange, he can’t help but muse to himself, considering sunlight never reaches him anymore.

He can still think (if only barely), and hardly feels anything anymore except damp cold, but he’s still…..here. Even if all he can see is the strange bluish mushrooms that keep sprouting up around him, and even if if all he can feel is cold.

Well, cold and something else.

_Hate._

Ah yes, his constant companion over however long he’s been down here. Even as the pain finally relented, and despair gave way to resignation, the _hatred_ still remains. 

Hatred for that _bastard,_ for his smug fucking voice _,_ for the way he dared disrespect Jashin-sama, for the way he’d stood over him with such a _bored fucking_ expression. 

_“This hole will be your grave.”_

No. Not a grave. Never a grave. Jashin-sama wouldn’t allow it. Even if it takes thousands of years for the soil to wear away, it will not be forever.

Oh, but it’s been so long already. And he’s so very tired. Whatever these weird blue mushrooms are, the more of them sprout up, the more _tired_ he feels.

Surely, if he slept a while it would be alright. After all, it’ll be good to pass a bit of time.

He’s so very tired...

* * *

“Come on, you guys are so freakin’ _slow!_ ”

“We’re not slow; you’re just fast! Give us a break!”

Boruto shoots a dirty look backward at Shikadai, sticking his tongue out imperiously. 

“Why should we hurry anyway? It’s a nice day, and it’s not like we’ve got anywhere else to be.”

“Oh c’mon, whose side are you on anyway, Mitsuki?!”

The white haired boy only smiles in response. 

“You’re such a dick.”

“Oh give it a rest will you?” Sarada begs, fidgeting with her glasses in secondhand embarrassment. 

Boruto pulls a very unflattering face. Then, he huffs, letting his petty whining go. 

“Well what’re we waiting for _-ttebase?_ What’s this super weird thing you found that you just _had_ to show us?”

Shikadai scratches the back of his head and shrugs. 

“Dunno. I was just out here lookin’ for shed antlers n’ stuff. I saw a couple wolves digging somethin’ weird up but I can’t figure out what it’s supposed to be.”

“How come you didn’t tell Inojin or Chouchou about it though?” Sarada asks. 

“I did. They didn’t believe me. But I swear I’m not full of it.”

“Maybe you found something haunted,” Mitsuki suggests, hopping over a fallen evergreen. 

“D-don’t joke around like that!” Sarada whines, eyes darting wildly around the forest. 

“I’m not joking. Lots of people have died in this forest. It’s probably crawling with angry spirits looking for revenge.”

“Your dad tells you too many weird stories,” Boruto grumbles. 

“He’s not my dad,” Mitsuki corrects him. 

“Whatever. He’s still telling you too many weird stories.”

“Is it really all that weird though?”

“...My papa said that if there were such things as ghosts he would’ve seen them by now,” Sarada says, sheepishly. 

Mitsuki only shrugs. 

“-right here’s where I found it!”

Like Shikadai said, there’s a crater in the earth where something had obviously been digging. 

“Eh? What is it?”

“If I knew I wouldn’t have brought you guys here.”

Mitsuki crouches down, tilting his head to one side, then the other. He reaches down and plucks a stalk of something strange. When it breaks off, the color goes from a sickly green to a brilliant blue where it’s been broken. 

“Well, _this_ is some kind of fungus,” he says, breaking it open to demonstrate the color change again. “A weird one, but still.”

“-what about down there?”

Black eyes turning scarlet, Sarada joins Mitsuki at the edge of the pit. 

“What do you mean?”

“Right there!”

Mitsuki reaches down where she’s pointing, taking full advantage of his ability to stretch his limbs far past their normal length. He grabs hold of what she’s seen, snapping it off and lifting it up and out. 

It luminesces faintly blue in the dim light of the thick forest. Sarada frowns at it. 

“What’s wrong?” Boruto asks, bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet. “It’s just a stupid glowing mushroom.”

“No it’s not,” Sarada snaps back. “It’s-“

She squints at it, pushing her glasses to the top of her head while she stares intently. 

“It’s like it’s alive or something.”

“Alive? How?”

“How should I know?!”

Mitsuki sets the strange mushroom aside, reaching for something else that’s caught his eye. With a bit of effort, he dislodges what seems to be a gnarled, ancient tree branch, covered in moss and more of the strange fungus. He cocks his head again, like a curious bird. 

“How much of this stuff is in here?” He muses. 

Boruto huffs, then hops straight into the pit. 

“Well, let’s dig up all the stupid mushrooms then.”

Shikadai pulls out a kunai and joins him. They find more strange, mangled things, throwing them up out of the pit as they do. 

“Jeez, what is all this stuff anyway? It looks gross ‘n it’s all slimy.”

“Probably slime mold of some kind,” Mitsuki answers. “Or anaerobic bacteria breaking down some sort of organic material. Maybe something died and got buried here.”

“Why are you such a nerd?” Boruto groans. 

Mitsuki only shrugs once again. 

Sarada rams her elbow against a stubborn bit of rock. It comes loose and tumbles to her feet. She picks it up without thinking much of it, then yelps. 

“You okay?!” Boruto demands, ready to snatch her out of harm’s way at any second. 

“...I’m fine,” she mumbles. “Just uh, tweaked my wrist. I’m okay.”

Boruto grudgingly accepts her excuse. Sarada climbs out of the pit, legs shaking, clutching the thing she _thought_ was just a rock in trembling hands. She doesn’t say anything, so she doesn’t frighten the others, but she brings it over to the rest of their findings. Pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket, she wipes away some of the grime and nearly dry-heaves when she confirms her suspicions. 

What she thought at first was just some sort of strange plant growth is actually hair. Matted, filthy hair, vine-like from neglect, but _hair._ Which makes the thing she’s holding in her hands…

-stranger still, when she turns her Sharingan on, she can still see the faintest glow of chakra still running through it. She sets the _human head_ aside, and turns her attention to the pile of moss-covered _something_ beside her. 

Carefully, methodically, she starts scraping the overgrowth away. Her heart hammers violently against her sternum the more she scrapes away, revealing flesh. Oddly colored, decaying flesh, but _flesh._

She jolts when her kunai hits something metallic. Holding her breath, she twists the metal thing, dislodging it and pulling it off. Wrinkling her nose, she wipes away the grunge to reveal the kanji _san._ Her blood turns cold; her eyes dart between the ring and the _rotting human hand_ she’d pulled it from. 

She opens her mouth to yell, but she can’t manage a sound. She swallows, her mouth dry, breath shaky. 

Carefully, Sarada places the arm next to what she assumes is the shoulder, then next to what she guesses must be the torso. 

“-Hey what’s this thing?”

Boruto brandishes his finding in the air; it’s a thin silver chain, tarnished but still intact. Hanging from it is a simple pendant, equally as corroded- a thin ring enclosing a triangle. 

“Hey Mitsuki, you think your da-mo- whatever he is will know what this thing is?”

“Hm?”

“Looks just like a boring old necklace to me,” Shikadai complains. “Just toss it.”

Boruto scowls. 

“...I’m gonna see if I can get it cleaned up,” he declares. “I think my mom will like it _dattebase!_ ”

“Whatever floats yer boat,” Shikadai grumbles. Boruto stashes the necklace in his pocket. 

Sarada can hardly breathe- sheer morbid curiosity keeps her going, assembling the bits and pieces as they start to look more and more _human._ She musters one last burst of effort, and places the head atop the rest of the remains. 

“What’re you doin’ up there anyway?” Boruto calls. 

At last, she finds her voice. 

“...I think we dug up a dead guy,” she manages to croak out. 

The boys rush to her side. Shikadai and Boruto are wide-eyed in a mix of disgust and horror. Mitsuki’s brow furrows in a mild confused curiosity. Sarada stays sat on the ground shaking, dark eyes welling up with tears. 

“We shouldn’t have-“ she whimpers. “This isn’t right-“

Mitsuki cocks an eyebrow, glancing over the body. The strange, weakly luminescent fungus is spreading slowly across its neck, visible under the skin as it burrows underneath. The gears in his head start churning away vigorously. 

“We’re so sorry," Sarada says to the body, balling her hands into fists. “We shouldn’t have disturbed you-“

Mitsuki notices when the fingers on the supposed corpse twitch. Sarada does not. 

“Get away from it-“

-his warning comes too late. 

Sarada screeches when the hand of the corpse closes around her wrist. 

“What the _hell!_?!” Shikadai and Boruto cry out in unison, frozen in place from fear. 

A single bright amethyst eye opens up, boring straight through to her soul. 

A series of crackling, snapping, _tearing_ sounds accompany the corpse’s every movement. Its other hand grabs Sarada by the throat, hoisting her up into the air. 

“L-let her go!” Boruto demands impotently, still unable to will himself to move. 

Sarada’s tears finally spill over, eyes flickering wildly between charcoal and Sharingan. 

The corpse tilts its head; a large chunk of moss falls from its forehead as its brow furrows. It turns her around, looking her over for a few moments that stretch to an eternity. 

Boruto swears he can hear his heart thumping in his ears. 

After another few eternities, the corpse unceremoniously sets Sarada back on the ground. She drops to her knees, coughing and sobbing. The corpse bends over stiffly, awkwardly, and makes some approximation of patting her on the head- almost like an apology…?

Finally, _finally,_ Boruto wills himself to move. He gets between her and the corpse, gathering her up in a protective embrace. 

“You okay?”

“N-no!”

The corpse lets out a series of high-pitched, raspy, horrible breaths. Then it doubles over, coughing up a veritable fountain of technicolor slime. 

Mitsuki inches his way closer to his friends on wobbly legs, trying despite his fright to think clearly. 

He glances back at the pit of fungus, then at the _thing_ standing between him and his teammates, then at Shikadai frozen in terror. 

He waves his hand at Shikadai, making the hand seals for the Nara’s shadow-binding jutsu and hoping he gets the hint. 

His hint doesn’t seem to penetrate the panic. 

Boruto lets out a colorful series of curse words when the body grabs the back of his shirt, yanking him backwards. He shuts his eyes right, seemingly to deny what’s happening-

The corpse yanks the necklace out of his back pocket, then throws him aside carelessly; Boruto bashes his head against a jagged rock. 

“...Fucking...brat,” he hisses, in a horrible, rattling voice. 

He brandishes the necklace in his direction, while Boruto rolls on the ground in pain. 

“...mine,” he snarls. 

At last, Shikadai puts his hands together, realizing what he wants to do. 

He wills his shadow over toward the corpse’s, swallowing down his fear. 

The jutsu works as it should. The corpse’s eye goes wide, like he knows what’s happened. The exposed muscles and ligaments in his body strain desperately, but it’s a futile effort. 

An inhuman, wretched, horrible _wail_ bursts from the corpse. It turns its head, an unfiltered, unbridled rage written across its face. 

“You-“ he rasps out. “ _You-“_

The color drains from Shikadai’s face. 

“Don’t let it go,” Mitsuki pleads. “Just-“

His plea falls on deaf ears. 

The corpse towers over Shikadai, grabbing his arm and hoisting it into the air. It wipes its hand across a bleeding cut on the boy’s wrist, bringing it to his mouth and licking it up; even the corpse’s saliva has a strange bluish tinge. 

“...what is it…”

The animated corpse digs its heel into the ground and drags its leg until it makes a circle, then draws a triangle within it. 

“That’s just like the-“

Sarada slaps her hand over Boruto’s mouth, silencing him. 

(His head is bleeding quite badly, but she’ll worry about that later.)

The air drops a dozen degrees when Shikadai lets out a blood-chilling shriek. 

The same eerie blue glow creeps across his neck and down his arms, tracing a pattern along his veins. 

The corpse laughs. 

It’s a horrid, high-pitched sound, like sharp metal dragged across ceramic. It ends with another wet, slimy cough; Shikadai falls over in agony, hacking up the same strange, colorful slime. 

“Don’t-“ Sarada implores, restraining Boruto from lunging at the corpse. 

“But he’s gonna-“

Staring at the circle the corpse drew, Mitsuki gets an idea. An idea that might not work, but any idea is better than none, right?

He sneaks behind the corpse, holding his breath the entire time. But he crushes his fear down. After all, it’s just like his parent had told him a thousand times-

_“Fear can be dealt with at any moment. If you have to save it and feel it later, then feel it later. When the danger is past.”_

Normally he’d throw a shuriken to get his attention, but his gut tells him that’s a horrible idea. Instead, he throws himself forward, wrapping his arms around the corpse once, twice, three times. Predictably, the creature howls, throwing itself around and raging. It sinks broken, jagged teeth into Mitsuki’s flesh over and over. But Mitsuki bites his lip and endures it, throwing himself and the corpse out of the circle. 

Shikadai falls forward, with an awful gurgling groan. 

“Grab them and go!” Mitsuki yells, snapping Sarada to attention. 

“But-“

“-I’ll catch up in a second! I said go!”

A heartbeat of hesitation, and Sarada obeys. She drags a now half-lucid Boruto behind her, and hurries to help Shikadai back onto his feet. 

“Come on, we gotta go!”

Mitsuki listens to their retreat, until he’s sure they’re at a safer distance. 

“Sorry about this, mister corpse,” he says, using all his might to hurl the body back into the pit they’d dug him up from. “But we have to go now.”

He takes off in the same direction as his friends, quickly catching back up with them. 

“You’re hurt-“

“I noticed,” Mitsuki replies, cradling his bloodied arm. “But I think I got off lucky all things considered.”

“We shouldn’t have done that,” Sarada whimpers. “We shouldn’t have done that, we _really_ shouldn’t have done that…”

“We can’t change it now,” Mitsuki snaps. 

“I’m gonna puke-“ Shikadai warns. 

He skids to a halt just in time to puke up still more of the multicolored slime. He claws at his sweat-slicked skin like he wants to tear it off; the blood that leaks from the scratches has that same odd bluish tint.

“What’s wrong with me?” He gasps out. “I’m comin’ outta my skin!”

“- We gotta get my mama,” Sarada says. “She can- she’ll fix it!”

Mitsuki nods mechanically; Boruto does the same. 

Laboriously, they put one foot in front of the other, praying that _thing_ doesn't follow them home.

* * *

“I’m going on break!” Tsunade yells into the office as she steps out. “Nobody bug me unless someone’s dying, or I swear to god I’m gonna-“

She skids to a halt abruptly, coffee slopping out of the paper cup in her hand. 

“Where’s my mama?!” Sarada pleads, pushing Boruto further upright when he slumps forward. “Boruto hit his head, Mitsuki’s been bitten, and Shikadai’s-“

Tsunade stares blankly at the four children in front of her. She blinks twice, then retreats back into the office. They hear her pick up a phone and dial. 

“...yeah, I’m gonna need you to get down here...your kid and Naruto’s kid and- yeah him. And the Nara kid. Right fucking now would be best. You’ll get it when you see them.”

She slams the phone back onto the receiver, and draws a shaky breath. Then she ushers the children out of the hallway, into an empty exam room. 

“Stay put,” she orders. “We’ll be back in a second.”

Shikadai huddles up in a ball on the floor, rocking back and forth, still clawing at his skin. Mitsuki wraps the loose fabric of his shirt around his bleeding arm, grimacing but giving no other indication that he’s hurting. Boruto mumbles for his mother, clutching at his head. 

Sarada counts each tick of the clock. In fifty-three ticks, the door bursts open. 

“Sarada, honey, what happened?! What’s wrong?!”

“I’m fine,” Sarada insists, pushing Sakura away. “They’re the ones who’re hurt-“

“I’ll look at the Nara kid,” Tsunade offers. “You-“

“-Take care of Boruto please,” Mitsuki insists. “He hit his head badly.”

Sakura doesn’t argue with him. 

“And you-“

“-I said I’m not hurt, Mama,” Sarada insists again. “He didn’t hurt me.”

“He? Who’s he?”

“We don’t know.”

“Well what’s he look like?” Tsunade demands, hands lighting up with soft healing chakra while she speaks. “Where the hell did you meet him?”

Sarada kicks her feet, fidgeting uncomfortably. 

“Uh- Shikadai told us he’d found something weird in the forest. So we went with him to check it out. It was this great big hole he said he saw some wolves digging. There was some sorta weird fungus growing, and we were checking it out but- there was a body down there.”

Sarada bites her lip. 

“We swear we didn’t mean to dig him up! It was an accident! But he-“

“-he grabbed Sarada, but for some reason he didn’t hurt her,” Mitsuki continues. “He threw Boruto, but when he saw Shikadai, that’s when he got furious.”

He kicks his feet in the same rhythm as Sarada, pale brow furrowed. 

“I’d never seen anything like he did. He drew this symbol in the dirt-“ he traces it in the air with his uninjured hand- “and Shikadai turned out like this.”

Tsunade growls. 

“...and your arm?”

“I dragged the guy out of that symbol thing. He didn’t like that, so he bit me. A lot, actually.”

Tsunade nods once, stiffly. She flags down a nurse passing by in the hallway. 

“Go get Nara Shikamaru and be snappy about it. And grab Naruto too while you’re at it. Tell him I’ll fucking kill him if he sends a shadow clone.”

Unquestioningly, the nurse nods and takes off at a sprint. Sakura places blue glowing hands on either side of his head. 

“Boruto, honey can you look at me?”

The boy looks up lethargically, trying to focus his eyes. 

“Can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?”

“...I dunno,” he mumbles, shielding his eyes from the harsh hospital lighting. “I can’t…”

He whimpers pitifully. 

“...where’s my mom?” He asks. “...want my mom.”

“I’m gonna get him in a dark room,” Sakura says, picking him up. “He’s got a concussion at the very least.”

“Do that,” Tsunade affirms. “I’m gonna-“

Shikadai lets out a sharp whine of pain. His face goes ash white, and he begins shaking violently. 

“-stop it,” he begs, screwing his eyes shut tight. “Hurts-“

Tsunade pulls her hands away; Shikadai goes limp, small miserable noises bubbling out of him. 

“The hell…”

“-I wonder if-“

Mitsuki hesitates when Tsunade glares at him. But he gathers his bravery and continues. 

“...Sarada, you said the fungus we found seemed alive right?”

“Huh?” Sarada frowns. “I uh...yeah. When I had my Sharingan on, they seemed strange like...kinda like they had chakra of their own? Like they were alive?”

Tsunade shakes her head like she can’t believe it. 

“Also, it seemed like it’s what uh- put whoever that was back together,” Mitsuki adds. “It grew into him, and uh- he was vomiting the same stuff Shikadai is right now.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Tsunade groans. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

Shizune pops into the room, hauling a cart of disinfectant and bandages. 

“Alright, Sakura told me to check your arm out,” she tells Mitsuki. “And she wants _you,”_ she looks over at Sarada now, “to wipe down any part of you you think touched- well, whatever this stuff is. Just to be safe.”

Sarada obeys, taking the gauze and disinfectant Shizune pushes at her. 

Mitsuki obediently offers his wounded arm; Shizune pulls a pair of gloves on and gently unsticks his sleeve from his arm. 

“Oh dear-“

The flesh around each bite is a deep, angry red. A faint, iridescent blue radiates outward from each bite. 

Mitsuki frowns. 

“That doesn’t look good,” he remarks. 

He sits without complaint while Shizune sterilized the wound, not so much as flinching when she pours a generous amount of isopropyl alcohol over the wounds. 

“Is Shikadai going to be alright?” Sarada asks, when another nurse comes in with a gurney to take him away. 

“Eventually,” Tsunade assures her as she rushes out behind it.

The instant she’s cleared the doorway, a whirlwind of blue and black bursts in, making Shizune squeak in surprise. 

The new arrival has Sarada scooped up in his arm and pressed tightly against him before she registers his presence. 

“Papa-“

Sasuke doesn’t say a word, instead merely crushing his daughter against him like she’d fly away if he didn’t. Sarada chokes, and starts to cry. She sobs against his neck, hugging him back with all her might. Sasuke doesn’t say a word, opting to just hold her while she cries her heart out. 

“You okay?” Shizune asks gently, spotting the melancholy look on Mitsuki’s face. 

“Hm? I’m fine. I’m just worried is all.”

“Okay. Well, if your arm starts hurting worse let me know right away, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Just stay here, alright? Everything's gonna be okay.”

 _Liar,_ he wants to say, but doesn't.

Mitsuki stares at the bandaging wound around his arm for about one hundred ticks of the clock. Sasuke leaves the room, carrying Sarada with him. Mitsuki watches the clock now, for three thousand, eight hundred ninety-four seconds. He starts to nod off, head inexplicably heavy. 

Before he properly dozes off, however, the door clicks and opens. 

He lifts his heavy head, meeting a pair of gold eyes that are so much like his own. 

Orochimaru’s face is inscrutable. He steps into the room with his arms folded. 

“You’ve had a bad day, haven’t you?” He says, his voice as flat as his expression.

Mitsuki tries to speak. However, his voice fails him. He feels himself start to shake, then feels tears running down his face he swears he didn’t even feel coming. 

He holds his arms out toward Orochimaru, in an action that feels as natural as breathing. 

Orochimaru’s blank face melts into a warm, sympathetic expression. He closes the short distance to embrace his child, stroking his shirt white hair to soothe away his shaking. 

“Shh, you’re alright. Enough of that. You’re alright.”

“Boruto though- and Shikadai, he’s-“

“I know. I know. They’re being taken care of.”

Mitsuki shuts his eyes, clinging to Orochimaru so he doesn't drown in the sea of fear he’s been tossed into. 

He’s never been this afraid in his life. And, if the way his parent clings to him as well is any indication- he’s afraid, too.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Unburied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidan's trying to piece together what the fuck happened while he was takin' a dirtnap, and Sarada overhears stuff she shouldn't.

“Where’s our son?!” 

Shikamaru barrels in like a bat out of hell, Temari right beside him. Right behind them are Naruto and Hinata, who are equal measures confused and worried.

“We’re still trying to figure out what’s wrong with him. Please bear with us.”

“Alright so tell us what you know- _ ttebayo, _ ” Naruto says, taking hold of Hinata’s hand. 

Tsunade gestures with her head, urging them to follow her.

She leads them into the hospital break room, where all the other staff members have been ushered out. She shuts and locks the door behind them.

“Sit down.”

They gather around the break room table, anxiety thick in the air.

Orochimaru has Mitsuki gathered up in his arms; the boy is fast asleep. Sarada sits between her mother and father, fidgeting with her fingers and not looking at anyone.

Sakura briefly reiterates what the children have told them already; Shikamaru’s face goes progressively paler it goes on.

“...You’re sure…?”

“I don’t see who else it could be.”

The adults mutter amongst themselves, brows furrowed in worry.

Sarada bites her lip, reaching into one of the pouches of her belt to pull out the filthy, corroded ring she’d found.

She sets it on the table, looking up at them worriedly. 

“I uh...we found this out in the forest. If it helps with anything.”

Suddenly, Orochimaru is no longer the palest person in the room. Shikamaru slumps forward, his hands the only thing keeping his head upright.

“So it really is…”

“You said there was no way-”

“-I know what I fuckin’  _ said,  _ Temari!” 

“Enlighten the rest of us,” Orochimaru hisses.

“It was like twenty years ago okay?!” Shikamaru snaps. “He wasn’t supposed to- he wasn’t- I blew him into a dozen pieces alright?! You don’t walk away from something like that!” 

“I’m pretty sure his name is Hidan. He was part of Akatsuki,” Tsunade throws in. “I’m surprised you  _ don’t  _ know him.”

Orochimaru seems to put two and two together now.

“He came along after my time,” he huffs, petting Mitsuki’s snowy hair absentmindedly. “I only know  _ of  _ him, not what became of him.”

“Wait who are we talking about?!” Naruto complains. 

“The no good some of a bitch who killed Asuma,” Shikamaru bites back. 

“...What’s Akatsuki?” Sarada asks, hesitantly, wondering if she’s done something wrong. 

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Sasuke snaps. He stands up with a sudden burst of urgency. “Come on- I’m taking you home.”

“But Papa-“

“Don’t argue with me. We’re going home.” 

Sasuke grabs her wrist and drags her off, ignoring her continued protests. 

When the door’s shut again, Temari speaks up. 

“So. What do we do?”

“It might be good if you guys laid low for a bit, until we find this guy,” Naruto suggests. “It’s gonna be dangerous with him out and-“

“-Like hell I’m running off like some coward!”

Shikamaru grabs his coat and stands up too, throwing it carelessly over his shoulders. 

“I’m gonna find the bastard and finish what I should’ve-“

“How exactly do you plan to kill someone who’s proven to be unkillable?” Orochimaru points out, voice thick with agitation. “Seeing as your last plan went so very well.”

“I’ll play it by ear,” Shikamaru growls. “How about you mind your own business, yeah?”

“I’d say you’ve gone and  _ made  _ this my business,” Orochimaru retorts, grip tightening around Mitsuki’s unconscious frame. 

“Hey don’t start a fight you guys,” Naruto begs. “We got enough problems without ripping each other up too!”

The pair of them grit their teeth and go quiet. 

Tsunade and Sakura stand up in unison. 

“You check in on Boruto. I’m gonna get some blood off the other kid and try to figure out what we’re dealing with.”

“Alright, Tsunade-sama.”

“Sakura-chan, he’s gonna be okay, right?” Naruto asks, Hinata mirroring his worried face. 

“Yeah,” Sakura reassures him. “He’s got a concussion and we wanna keep an eye on him for awhile, but he should be fine in a week or so.”

“Please take us to him,” Hinata implores. Sakura nods and leads them out, arms wrapped tightly around each other. 

“As for you-“

Tsunade gives a pointed look to Shikamaru. 

“Your boy’s been crying for you for the last half hour. Before you go off on your suicide mission don’t you think you should at least see him?”

Anger gives way to surprise on Shikamaru’s face. 

“...fine.” He relents. 

Temari grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze. 

Tsunade lingers behind them, looking out of her peripheral vision at her old teammate. 

Orochimaru is the last one still seated. Still cradling his son gingerly, like he’d break if he wasn’t careful. 

“We’ll get a room set up for him, too. We wanna keep an eye on those bites.”

Orochimaru nods, even though he doesn’t even look like he’s listening. She sighs, more than a bit annoyed at his refusal to look at her. 

“Would it kill you to talk to me?” She snaps. 

At least that gets him to finally look up, even if it’s just to glare at her. 

“Don’t you have other things to be doing than pestering me?”

“Oh, is it really such a bother to say anything to me, even after you ran off all over again?!”

“This isn’t the time for this argument.”

“When the hell is?! You’re never  _ around  _ to have this argument with!”

Orochimaru stubbornly ignores her again. Tsunade storms off, slamming the door behind her. 

“Asshole,” she mutters. 

(She’s not quite sure if she’s angry at  _ him  _ specifically or just the situation in general, but that’s not gonna stop her being angry regardless.)

* * *

“-Papa, why-“

Sasuke slams the door so hard the whole house shakes. He fixes her with a look that’d stop a demon cold in his tracks, before storming off toward the study. Sarada bites back a whimper. 

(She’s never seen her father this angry before.)

“...I’m sorry,” she mumbles, fighting back the tears burning in her eyes. 

Sasuke’s hand freezes on the door handle. 

“It’s not you I’m mad at,” he tries to reassure her. 

Sarada doesn’t seem convinced. Sasuke hangs his head, then sighs. 

“Your mother got that strawberry ice cream you like, right? Why don’t you go grab it and we’ll have some together.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah, sure. But if your mother asks about it it was your idea.”

Sarada snorts, the remark catching her off guard. She makes a small sound of assent, and goes to the kitchen to grab the ice cream. She’s not particularly hungry, but something sweet will take her mind off things for a bit. 

She brings two bowls of ice cream into the study, crossing the threshold with some trepidation (she’s always been told the study is strictly off-limits). 

Papa is sat in the comfy chair by the mahogany desk, turning over a ring in his hand. 

A ring that looks quite like the one she’d found in the forest. 

Unlike the one she found in the forest, however, when Sarada cranes her neck, she instead finds the kanji _ shu  _ engraved on its bright red surface. 

“Scarlet?” 

Sasuke jumps about a foot in the air, like he’s been yanked from a deep sleep. 

“What-“

“The ring. Why’s it say that?”

Sasuke shrugs one shoulder. 

Sarada sets the second bowl down on the desk, forcing herself to smile. She sits cross-legged on the floor, digging into her ice cream eagerly. Her father seems more interested in playing with his food than eating it. 

“That ring we found looks a lot like that one.”

“Yeah.”

“But that one had the  _ san  _ kanji on it. Are the words there for a reason?”

Another shrug. 

“How many of them are there?”

“Hell if I know.”

Sarada fidgets with her glasses. 

“What’re they made of?”

“You’re putting more thought into jewelry in this conversation than I have in my entire life.”

“Huh?”

Sarada rocks back and forth while her mind works. 

“If you don’t know what it is, why'd you keep it?”

She frowns, when her father hesitates to answer. 

“...It’s not really something you’d understand,” he finally says. “It’s not something I ever  _ want  _ you to understand.”

Sarada pouts, but admits defeat. 

(He already looks upset enough without her making it worse.)

“If you say so, Papa.”

She turns her thoughts inward for awhile, though she occasionally looks up from her ice cream at her father. He seems totally uninterested in his own bowl, focused instead on that ring. 

(Sometimes Sarada wishes she were Yamanaka, so she could walk into her father’s head and see what he’s thinking.)

They sit together like this for a few hours, neither of them saying anything more. Sasuke’s ice cream melts into a strawberry puddle, but he doesn't seem to care. The sky outside turns gold, then red, then indigo. All the while some strange force compels Sarada to stay by her father.

At long last, the door opens. 

“I’m home,” Sakura calls out.

Sasuke stands up, stretching out his stiff limbs.

“...Why don’t you go to bed?” he tells Sarada.

“But I’m not-”

“Go to bed,” Sasuke repeats, on his way to meet his wife.

Sarada heads to her bedroom like her father said- however, rather than merely going to bed, she locks her door, and ducks down beside the vent, straining to hear their conversation. Despite their efforts to keep their voices low, she can make out maybe half of what is said.

“...not well…Might not make it...”

“...no sense… how did they even…”

“How did Naruto not know-”

They sound angry, but more than that, they sound scared. Sarada lays her head flat against the vent, ignoring the way the metal bites into her cheek, straining to make out more of the near-incoherent muttering.

“...but why not her-”

“You don’t think he’d…”

“...no way he would...my brother wouldn’t have...Hidan isn’t the sort of person he would...”

...Brother?

“But couldn’t he at least-”

“How the hell could he….twenty years…”

Saradsa sits back up, the vent leaving a series of bright red marks across her cheek.

Well. Instead of learning anything, Sarada just has one thought in the forefront of her mind.

_ Papa never said he had a brother. _

She lets that linger for probably too long, before shaking it off and squashing it down.

Isn’t it selfish to be thinking such things now? When there’s so much else she’s got to worry about? What about Shikadai? Or Mitsuki and Boruto? Aren’t there more important things to fuss over?

She hears her parents coming down the hall, and leaps beneath her covers, holding her breath when they stop outside her door, obviously listening for her.  


The full moon hangs heavy outside. It’s gonna be a long night.

* * *

Hidan doesn't remember the world being this obnoxiously, unbearably  _ bright. _

Even with only one eye, he finds himself nearly blinded just by the light of the moon overhead. He staggers forward with no idea where he’s going, each thought coming to him like it has to wade through molasses.

Strange, is the first thought that finally reaches him.

Every sensation, every sound, every breath of crisp, fresh air he takes- strange. He’s been trapped for so very long he’s forgotten what freedom feels like. 

He shivers in the cool night air- it doesn't take a genius to know it’s because he’s completely naked. His stomach growls painfully at him; it also doesn't take a genius to know it’s because it’s been however long since he’s last eaten.

And oh, how fucking long has it even been?!

That girl-

Well, even a dumb guy like him can figure out who she belongs to.

Itachi never spoke a word about him, but everyone and their mom knew about his kid brother. Well, maybe not a kid anymore- but it didn’t take more than a few brain cells to figure out that girl was his kid. And if he’d settled down enough to pop out a crotch goblin, he supposes that means Itachi’s long gone by now.

(Funny though, that he woke up to her apologizing at him-  _ sorry  _ was probably Itachi’s favorite fucking word.)

And that blond brat-

Hell, everyone would know whose brat that is. As weird as it is to hear that the Kyuubi cunt is still alive and kicking, he wonders if perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised.

That  _ other  _ fucking kid though-

White-hot rage surges in his throat just remembering his stupid face. A spitting image of  _ that bastard,  _ right down to his fucking hair. He dearly wishes he’d managed to finish the little prick off before they’d made their getaway. 

Leaning his weight against a rough, gnarled old tree, he digs overgrown fingernails into his skin, trying desperately to relieve the overwhelming itch crawling across his entire body. Pieces of flesh fall away, and more of that weird goo oozes out in lieu of blood.

Well. That’s not supposed to happen.

The decaying flesh reveals more of those strange, luminescent mushrooms he’d become so acquainted with while underground. He pries a few of the caps off, growling in frustration.

A branch breaks. Hidan looks up. 

A man looks back, both of them freezing in place. Just a plain looking man, maybe forty or so. He’s got a Konoha headband on, so he would know-

With a great effort, he summons his voice. It’s hoarse, and comes only with great effort, but it comes. 

“-what happened to Kakuzu?”

"What do you-”

“Kakuzu goddamn it- don’t pretend you don’t fuckin’ know him!” 

The man staggers backward, but his foot catches on a tree branch, sending him falling onto his backside. 

“H-he died-” the man stammers. “He d-died a long time ago-”

Dead. of course. Hidan figured as much. If Kakuzu had still been alive, he’d have found him eons ago- if only just to mock him for his fate. Though he’s not sure how sad he should be- or if he should be sad at all- it upsets him just a bit that he’s gone.

“...How long?” he mumbles next.

"I- What the hell are you talking a-," is all the man can get out before Hidan grabs  _ into _ his shoulder and pulls him upright, their faces only millimeters apart.

_"Answer the goddamned question!"_

The man screams out in pain, trembling with fear as his shirt turns scarlet.

"L-like T-t-t-twenty y-years! I-I dunno for sure! H-he’s been outta the bingo book for ages!”

“Goddamn,” Hidan curses, throwing the man aside carelessly. The man whimpers pitifully, whining for his mother and cradling his injured shoulder.

“Quit your bitchin’ will ya?!” Hidan snaps, pacing back and forth in agitation.

A bitter wind cuts through the dense forest, biting straight through his bare skin. He shudders, a renewed desire to cover up coursing through him.

“W-what’s happening to-”

Hidan turns his attention back to the unfortunate asshole writhing on the forest floor.his eyes are wide as dinner plates, watching with horror while pale, luminescent blue spreads across his veins.

Almost mindlessly, Hidan laps the man’s blood from off his fingers, the familiar coppery taste greeting him like an old friend. He draws Jashin’s symbol in the dirt, and breaks a sharp-looking branch off the closest tree.

Soon enough, the man goes quiet forever.

The delightful agony that washes over Hidan’s entire body makes him shudder. When the last waves of ecstasy retreat, he helps himself to the now dead guy’s pants and jacket, welcoming the shield from the chill.

He wanders on from there, quite unconcerned about the corpse he leaves behind.

In the stolen jacket’s pocket, he finds a Bingo Book that seems pretty recent, so he rifles through it as he wanders. First, he tries to hunt down Kakuzu. To his dismay (though not his surprise) his picture is covered by a giant red X, the words  _ confirmed deceased  _ printed right below it.

So he flips back toward the front of the book; as he’d also figured, Itachi’s image is marked with the same large, red X as Kakuzu.

A few pages past him, he finds Kisame’s picture- red X,  _ confirmed deceased. _

He finds Deidara. Red X,  _ confirmed deceased. _

“Fuck.”

He flips to the second half of the book, where all the various organizations of missing-nin are listed. 

**_Akatsuki_ **

**_This organization was comprised of S-class missing-nin from various Hidden Villages. It has been long ago disbanded, though some missing-nin occasionally claim to be affiliated to take advantage of its reputation. Such claims are to be disregarded, as no such organization exists any longer._ **

“Fuck,” he growls, tearing the book in half and tossing it aside. “Fuck!” 

So Akatsuki is long gone. Just a few lines of text in the back of the Bingo Book. Fresh waves of anger crash against the shore of his mind, the overwhelming desire to break something overcoming what little self-restraint he has. 

A choked roar bursts out of him, and he drives his fist through an ancient maple tree.

It does nothing but leave shards of wood and bark embedded in his hand, exposing more of that godforsaken ooze.

No Akatsuki. So that means he’s got no place to go back to. That upsets him more than it should.

(he’s not supposed to need anyone or anything other than Jashin-sama. So why does it hurt so badly?)

He wants to cry, even though crying is useless and pathetic. And he doesn't even know why he  _ should.  _

His head is throbbing. His throat burns. Off in the distance, he hears a stream merrily churning away.

Water. Yeah. That’ll help.

He follows the sound until he finds it, splashing the frigid water on his face, and gathering up as much as he can in his hands to drink.

Much better.

Now, to get his foggy brain together enough to decide what he wants to do next.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Wipe it clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarada has no intention of listening to her dad here, Sakura is snarky to Orochimaru, and Hidan does A Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: uh, eating people.

Heavy.

Mitsuki groans, struggling to lift his head, or even open his eyes. But everything feels just too  _ heavy  _ to even fight against it.

Summoning up all his willpower, he manages to get his eyes open. With another herculean effort, he pulls himself onto his elbow and pulls himself upright.

From behind him, a hand rests on top of his head, tousling his hair lovingly.

“Took you long enough to wake up.”

Mitsuki pouts, even though his parent obviously can’t see it.

“How long, exactly?” he asks.

(Talking feels strangely hard to do. Like there’s something in his throat.)

“Thirteen hours, forty-seven minutes, eighteen seconds. But who’s counting?”

That gets a tired laugh out of Mitsuki, but the levity is short-lived. He breaks out in a fit of wet coughing, doubling over with the force of them. An icy pit forms in his stomach when he finds that pearlescent, multicolored slime when he pulls his hand away.

“...that’s bad.” he mumbles.

Orochimaru doesn't say anything. And that makes his pit of dread grow deeper.

“...Am I gonna die?” Mitsuki asks. Once again, however, Orochimaru does not answer.

A knock at the door. Then, not even a full second later, the door opens.

Sakura looks frazzled. She’s got a mask over her face and disposable gloves, hair thrown back in a sloppy ponytail.

“I wouldn’t touch him any more than you already have,” she says, not bothering with a greeting. “I need you to change and scrub up right now, too.”

Orochimaru must catch the puzzled look on his son’s face. 

“I’m assuming whatever’s going on is contagious?”

“Mmhmm. And we don’t know  _ how  _ contagious so if you’re gonna stick around you’ll do what I told you.”

Anxiety wells up in Mitsuki’s chest as his parent stands up to do as he’s been commanded.

“I’ll be back,” Orochimaru assures him, though it does little to comfort the boy when he follows Sakura out.

“I’ve got this entire section of the hospital locked down, and I’ve told Sasuke we’ve gotta keep Sarada quarantined at home until we’ve got this figured out. It doesn't seem like Boruto was infected with whatever this fungus is but we’re gonna keep him isolated too.”

She says all this in a cold, clinical sort of tone even though her expression is anything but. Orochimaru nods along with her.

“And the Nara boy?”

“Still alive. For now. Tsunade-sama is with him right now.”

“Hm. and since Mitsuki was bitten by-”

“Good to know you’re following. Now-”

Sakura jabs her finger in the direction of the emergency shower in the corner of the supply room she’s lead him to.

“Get in there, and throw everything you’re wearing in that bag over there. We’re treating everything that’s come into contact as a biohazard from now on. And if you have any open wounds  _ anywhere  _ you better let me know- that seems to be the main way this shit spreads.”

Orochimaru has a fleeting look of resignation, glancing down at his expensive silk clothing, but doesn't argue.

“Fine then.”

“I’ll bring back something else for you to wear instead. You’ve got ten minutes.”

Sakura stalks out of the supply room, but pauses right before slamming the door.

“...Thanks for coming,” she says, surprising him with how abruptly she takes on a softer tone. “I’m sure Mitsuki is glad to have you here.”

She doesn't give him a chance to reply before shutting the door.

* * *

Damn it. 

Hidan’s stomach screams at him, wrapping itself around his spine as it protests its emptiness.

(How it was even still  _ there  _ after all this time eludes him.)

He turns out the pockets of his stolen jacket, cursing when they turn up empty. And it’s early enough in the year it seems that all the trees and shrubs around him haven’t given fruit yet. As for getting meat- well. Unless he wants to catch that shit with his bare hands, he’s out of luck.

A rustle in the foliage beside him. A lovely doe and her speckled fawn peer out curiously at him.

Well. he’s done stupider things to get a meal.

He stands perfectly still, letting the doe and her fawn look him over warily, until they’ve satisfied their curiosity. The deer turns her head, strolling away with her fawn in tow. They bow their heads to graze on some freshly-sprouted grass, seeming to forget about him.

(weird. Maybe he’s been rotting for so long he doesn't even smell human anymore… or maybe these deer are just exceptionally stupid.)

Maybe, he thinks, if he can be quick enough he can at least snap the fawn’s neck. He’s not entirely keen on the idea, but it’s better than nothing.

He seizes his chance on impulse, lunging at the little deer- though not quickly enough. He grazes the side of the fawn, scratching him with his ragged fingernails. The poor fawn cries out in distress, darting away with his mother right behind him. Hidan stumbles, falling face-first in the dirt.

“Oh  _ fuck you! _ ” Hidan shouts at the pair as they flee, around a mouthful of mud and plant matter.

His stomach rumbles again, still more insistently. He pulls himself to his feet, spitting out the detritus from the forest floor.

Maybe he could try and find that stream again. There’s gotta be some fish or something-

-or even, if he could find the bastard he killed before-

-Nah. He’ll  _ never  _ be that fucking desperate. 

Brushing off his stomach’s incessant yowling, he strains to make out the faint sound of running water so he can try to get some stupid fish.

He scratches his head aggressively, trying to get his attention off his hunger. Unconsciously, he scrapes the blood and fur from under his fingernails with his teeth, just because it’s  _ something. _

He’s been hungry before. He’s been  _ hungry.  _ As in  _ I haven’t eaten in ten days and I would literally eat rocks to make the pain stop  _ hungry.

Hell- he’s chewed on tree bark just to make his stomach shut up, when his mother was too out of it to remember she had a son.

And still, he’d take  _ that  _ hunger a thousand times again over this all-encompassing, unendurable, all-consuming agony making all of his insides clench.

“Fuck!” 

He trips over  _ something,  _ earning himself another mouthful of mud and forest debris. 

“I swear to hell I’m gonna-”

A wave of  _ something  _ hits Hidan’s nose, wiping his mind blank.

It’s blood. He knows that, he smelled it earlier when he scratched the stupid deer. But this time, wherever it’s coming from, it makes his stomach howl with longing.

Spitting out the gunk in his mouth, he realizes he’s been to this part of the forest already. And the thing he tripped over just so happens to be the dude he’d dispatched a few hours ago.

The same weird glowing mushrooms Hidan keeps finding on himself sprout up from the hole in his chest. Hidan tears them off, watching as they change color where they’re broken.

With his next breath, though, he gets more of the smell of blood, of flesh, feeling nauseous and disgusted in himself when he finds his mouth watering over it.

Must be because it’s been so long. But even so, he feels disgust in himself for even  _ thinking  _ about-

Even as he thinks this though, almost like his body is out of his own control (like he’s one of Sasori’s  _ fucking _ puppets) he grabs the man’s arm and, before he has time to think about it, sinks his teeth into it.

It’s hard- harder than he thought biting into a human would be. But he manages to get his teeth in, tearing away a strip of flesh with a sickening, wet tearing sound. 

It tastes as disgusting as he imagined- like iron and copper and sweat and pork that’s far past its expiration. Yet that doesn't stop him from chewing and swallowing that strip of flesh, nor does it stop him from going in for a second bite.

(could he even stop himself if he wanted to?)

His mind conjures up images of what his old companions would think, if they saw him eating fucking  _ human flesh  _ off the ground, like he’s some kind of feral dog.

He imagines that Kakuzu would call him an assortment of colorful insults, proclaiming he always knew Hidan was little more than an animal. Hell, he can even hear the disdain with which Kakuzu would speak to him.

Sasori might not show much in the way of any emotion at the situation, but he’d doubtless have some kind of snide remark about how depraved humans get when they’re desperate. 

Kisame might actually be sick if he saw it, and Hidan has no doubt Itachi would throw up at the sight of it- not that it took much to make Itachi puke to start with.

And Deidara-

Well. Deidara would probably never  _ look  _ at him again. And that’s not even stopping to wonder what their leader or Konan would do if they found out.

If they’re even still around. Which he doubts.

None of that is enough to stop him, though. Not when the incessant hunger is finally,  _ finally  _ fucking off.

As gross and  _ wrong  _ as it is, he sits and keeps chewing until the man’s entire arm is nothing but bare bone.

He fights the urge to puke it all back up, because that’d defeat the purpose of stooping this fucking low in the first place.

_ This is the last fucking time I do this shit,  _ he promises himself.

(Why does that feel like a lie?)

* * *

Sarada watches the sun come up through her bedroom window, waiting for it to be “morning” enough to be able to get out of bed without being scolded. 

She throws her blankets off, changing out of her days-old clothes and briefly presses her ear against her door to see if she can hear her parents before she leaves her room. When she is met with silence, she opens the door and creeps out. 

(She’s not sure what’s making her so anxious.)

Everything smells like bleach. The further she goes, the more she’s noticed that every flat surface in the house has been scrubbed within an inch of its life, making her nose burn with the harsh smell of chemicals.

Every footstep she makes rings a thousand times louder than normal in her ears. Finding the office door ajar, she peers inside.

Papa is asleep, head on his desk, snoring the smallest bit; Sarada might find that funny if it were a different morning.

“...Papa?” 

Sasuke groans, and shifts around a bit, but he doesn't wake.

“Papa!” she repeats, louder this time. 

That finally gets him to wake up.

“Fuck!” he exclaims, flying off his chair and out of the office.

“What-”

Sasuke is at the door with his coat on before he registers that it was his daughter that woke him.

He clears his throat, looking sheepish.

“Don’t uh- tell your mother I said that. She’ll skin me alive.”

Sarada couldn’t care less about his profanity though.

“Where are you going?” she asks.

“Naruto n’ me and a couple others are gonna go out and look for that guy that attacked you yesterday. And  _ you-” _

He gives her a sharp look that makes her shrink back a little.

“-Are going to stay right here until we find him. Your mother says you need to throw out all your bedding and the clothes you wore yesterday in a plastic bag in the locking bin out back. And make sure you wash up good. Understand?” 

“What?! Why?!” Sarada demands.

“Because I’m your father and I’m telling you so.”

Sarada scowls, folding her arms and glaring at him when he runs out the door.

Always leaving. Always  _ fucking  _ leaving. She feels like she sees her father’s back more than she’s ever seen his face.

(Maybe she’ll tell Mama what he said, just out of spite. She doesn't need to know that Sarada hears that word from Boruto at least a dozen times a day.)

Despite her annoyance, she does as her father has instructed her to do. She throws away her bedding and the entirety of yesterday’s outfit, then spends a solid half hour scrubbing herself with the hottest water she can stand. She scrubs her glasses brushes her teeth twice as well- just to be sure.

After that, surprisingly enough, she feels better. She changes into some fresh clothes and puts the replacement bedding Papa left for her on her bed.

While she’s still toweling off her hair, curiosity gets her to go back into Papa’s office. Funny- he normally keeps it locked up tight.

He’s left the top drawer open as well, so she peers inside.

There again- that ring with  _ scarlet  _ cut into the bright red gemstone. She picks it up out of and turns it over in her hand, squinting at it like if she stared long enough it’d unravel this entire mess for her.

After she’s stared to her heart’s content, she goes to place it back in the drawer, catching a glimpse of a folded up paper, tucked away in the farthest corner of the drawer.

Again, curiosity gets the best of her, and she grabs it, fidgeting with her glasses before unfolding the paper.

“Aw-”

-It’s a photograph of her father, back when he was very young. A toddler, in fact, with round, chubby cheeks and tiny hands and a smile too big for his face. Sarada can’t help but grin as well; she’s never seen her father look that happy. 

The smile fades, however, when her eyes wander to the person holding him.

He’s older than Sasuke, by a good few years at least. He’s sitting cross-legged with Sasuke in his lap, with a more reserved sort of smile on his equally round face.

He’s got the same wide, black eyes with the same long, black eyelashes, but they’re ringed by raccoon circles like he hasn’t slept in his entire little life. 

But still- the two of them seem so happy.

-And just like that, Sarada realizes she’s found the older brother Papa had whispered about last night.

Heart pounding out of her chest, she shoves the photograph back into the drawer, glancing one more time at the ring beside it before sprinting upstairs. 

That picture-

That wasn’t in the drawer with that ring for no reason. It couldn’t have been.

So not only does Papa have (or, had) a brother she’s never heard of, that ring that looks  _ just like  _ the one she found with Hidan must have been his. So her uncle- whoever he was- would've known him, right?  


But why?

And why do Mama and Papa insist on hiding everything from her like she wouldn’t understand if they told her?!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Bad idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gearing up to go grab Hidan. Also as the title suggests Sarada has a very bad idea in mind.

“Hey, Orochimaru, the hell are you doing?!”

Orochimaru doesn't listen, tugging off one of his gloves, yellow eyes fixed on his task. He pulls the glove off his left hand, then takes a small blade in his right.

“You got cotton in your ears or what?! The fuck are you up to?!”

“Testing something,” Orochimaru answers flatly. 

Without any further ceremony, he drives the blade into the pad of his index finger, cringing in discomfort when it pierces him.

He holds his injured hand outward, letting it drip onto the glass dish below him.

“The fuck are you-”

“Just shut up and watch with me.”

Grudgingly, she obliges him, and they watch the tiny spores in the dish sprout, nearly instantly, into the familiar stalks and caps they’d collected them from.

“How the fuck-”

“I’ve got an idea, but you won’t like it.”

“And that would be?” Tsunade huffs, folding her arms and glaring at him.

“It’s a little out there, but- I’ve noticed these things seem to feed off chakra itself- it’s not like any other sort of fungus I’ve ever seen,” Orochimaru explains, wrapping some gauze around his injured finger and replacing his glove.

“That’s preposterous! How could they even?!” Tsunade snaps. 

“Life makes do with the resources available. If there’s a ready source of energy available, eventually something will find a way to tap it; really, it wouldn’t be that much different than photosynthesis. Besides-”

He breaks open one of the mushrooms’ caps, revealing the pale, luminescent blue veins within.

“You had to have noticed that both Mitsuki and the Nara boy have barely been conscious since they’ve been infected with it. If this is leeching all their chakra then that seems to me like the natural end result.”

Tsunade nods along, though the way her brow knits together betrays her lingering skepticism.

“What about the fact that nothing we try does anything for the pain?”

“It might be a way to try to keep them awake for as long as possible. After all we produce a lot less chakra when we sleep, don’t we? I assume it'd want to go for that easy energy before tapping the reserves we keep for uh- breathing and the like.”

Tsunade brings her hand to bite her nails (as she always does when she’s anxious or thinking too hard) but stops herself when both her gloves and her mask get in the way.

“...I hate to say it but I think you’re right.”

“Aren’t I always?”

Orochimaru’s quip earns him a whack upside the head with a clipboard.

“Take this seriously, will ya?” Tsunade snaps.

“I  _ am  _ taking it seriously,” he hisses back at her.

Tsunade huffs, going over her notes again.

“Well the good news is it doesn't seem like this can get at you through skin contact- Sarada and Boruto were both manhandled by this guy, and so far both of them are clean. So it’s gotta get into you through contact with a mucous membrane or an open wound.”

“-How about air?” Orochimaru asks, tossing the broken mushroom in the biohazard bin. “If someone breathed in enough of these spores that could be trouble.”

“Fuck. You’re probably right.”

Tsunade rocks back and forth on the balls of her feet.

“I’m gonna call Shizune,” she says, after some deliberation. “This could go to shit real quick and I dunno about you but I’d rather it not.”

“I’d say we can agree on that one.”

Orochimaru stands alarmingly still while Tsunade places her call, watching him all the while out of the corner of her eye.

Once she hangs up the phone, she can’t keep herself from addressing it.

“Alright you’re creeping me out. What’re you doing?!” 

Orochimaru sighs.

“Tell me truthfully, Tsunade,” he says, softly. “What are the chances my son survives this, do you think?”

“How the hell would I-”

Tsunade trails off. Because even though he keeps his voice tightly controlled, his hands are shaking.

“...I can’t let him die, Tsunade,” he says, an emotion in his voice she can’t quite put her finger on. “I can’t.”

-She has a few things she wants to do. She wants to embrace him. Wants to scold him for not telling her that straight out earlier. Wants to scream and cry and rage at him for the million conflicting feelings he’s saddled her with. 

But the one thing she doesn't want to do is lie, and tell him everything will be alright. Because she’s been told that empty promise before, and it never turns out well.

So instead, she just gives him a not-so-playful punch between the shoulderblades.

“Then focus, dumbass. We’ve got shit to do.”

* * *

“Thanks for helping us out here, Kakashi. Just make sure if you see the guy around that you let us know- and try not to die before we get back.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Kakashi mumbles, his tone of voice at odds with his tense posture. “I fought the guy before, remember? He doesn't scare me.”

Kurenai frowns, hands curled around a mug of coffee.

“We’re sure it’s him then?” 

“Yeah- but it’s gonna be fine!” Naruto reassures her. “We’ll find him real quick, so don’t-”

“I wanna come too!”

All eyes turn toward Mirai, who’s been pacing a hole in the living room rug for the past ten minutes.

“I already told you no.”

“I wanna help! I’m good at trackin’ people and I ca-”

“-You’re not getting within a fuckin’ mile of that guy as long as I’m breathing!” Shikamaru snaps back at her.

“Why not?! I’m a chuunin, I’ll be fine!”

“The hell does that even mean?!”

“Hey, Shika, calm-”

Naruto’s vain attempt to keep Shikamaru from exploding fails.

“Being a chuunin doesn't mean jack  _ shit  _ against a guy like that! He yells, jabbing a finger square in her chest. “This bastard is the reason three kids are in the hospital and the reason  _ you  _ don’t have a dad anymore! So shut the  _ fuck  _ up and stay out of it!”

“Why are you talking to her like that?!” Kurenai snaps back, rising to her feet. 

“Because I’m not interested in anyone else getting gutted, funny enough!”

“H-hey, we shouldn’t fight here _ -tteba-” _

“Oh save it will ya?!”

“You first,” Sasuke grumbles. And that finally gets Shikamaru to go quiet. “All the time we waste here is less time spent fixing this shit.”

“So- what’s the big plan anyway?” Kakashi asks, desperate for any change of subject.

“Easy,” Sasuke answers, with a shrug. “We find the fucker. We catch the fucker. I burn the fucker to ash and we go home. See if he survives that.”

“...Fair enough.”

“Good plan, problem is, don’t you think you’re uh, skipping a few steps?” Naruto pipes up, relief on his face still clear. “I think it’s gonna be a bit messier than that.”

“Sakura said not to touch him so that’s easy enough. Doesn't that guy control shadows? Just-” he makes a grabbing motion with his hand. 

“Not really that simple,” Shikamaru grumbles. “The guy’s still dangerous.”

“Yeah yeah, and we don’t wanna spread whatever’s messing him up any worse- _ ttebayo-” _

Naruto looks over at Sasuke’s now irritated face. “What?! It’s true though!”

Sasuke growls. Shikamaru looks like he might be sick.

“Well- when he lost his head that one time, Kakuzu had to stick it back on. I dunno anyone who can put ashes back together- so if we’re gonna kill him burning him is probably the best shot. It’d probably be the best way to keep from contaminating anything else, too.”

Sasuke holds his arm out in Shikamaru’s general direction, an annoyed  _ told-you-so  _ expression on his face.

“Alright then,” Kakashi says, pulling a book out of seemingly nowhere. “We’ll hold down the fort here while you guys go look. While we’re here though, what about Ino n’ Choji? Do they know what’s up?”

“Yeah yeah- Choji’s not even in the  _ country  _ right now, and I think Ino said she and Sai are gonna take Inojin somewhere else for awhile just to be safe. Dunno what Karui wants to do but I trust her.”

“Cool.”

Kakashi waves at them from over his book.

“We’ll let you know if we see anything weird. You should get going now.”

Shikamaru glowers at him.

“You could take this a  _ little  _ bit seriously, y’know.”

“Huh? Am I not? This is my serious face-”

“-Can we just  _ go _ ?” Sasuke complains. “We’re wasting daylight.”

“...Yeah yeah, good idea.”

As soon as they’re out of the house, Shikamaru lets out a grunt of pent-up frustration.

“Hey I know you’re freaked out  _ dattebayo,  _ but you don’t gotta yell at Mirai.”

“I know!” Shikamaru huffs. “I just- I’ll apologize to her later, okay? After we get this over with.” 

Naruto nods.

“And we got Temari stayin’ with Shikadai while we sort this out, right?”

“She isn’t leaving him til one of ‘em’s in the ground.”

Sasuke rests his hand on his hip and shakes his head.

“Sakura isn’t gonna let anyone go in the ground anytime soon,” he says, dismissively. “So let’s just get rid of this guy.”

“Sasuke’s right!” Naruto concurs, summoning his best smile. “We got this so don’t you worry!”

Not wasting any more time with words, he goes through the hand signs to summon up an army of shadow clones. They scatter in every which way as the three of them head into the forest. 

* * *

Anxiety gnaws at Sarada’s mind like an agitated rat, keeping her from focusing on much of anything at all. 

She tries reading, but can’t focus on any of her books. Inojin has been showing her how to draw so she tries practicing, but can’t focus on that, either. As a last ditch effort to distract herself, she turns on the television to see if she can find anything suitably brainless to watch.

Alas, luck is not in her favor as a harsh, high-pitched warning siren blares over the airwaves.

_ Attention: normal programming has been interrupted at the request of the Hokage and his advisors. _

_ This is not a test.  _

_ Repeat:  _ **_this is not a test._ **

_ A serious situation is in progress.  _

_ A potential biohazard situation is in progress.  _

**_Do not panic._ ** _ The Hokage and his advisors are working to get the situation under control. _

_ A subject is currently at large, carrying an unknown and potentially lethal pathogen. He is being pursued at this time. _

_ Villagers are ordered to return to their homes immediately. Those unable to return home should seek shelter in any residence or place of business available.  _

_ Places of business are ordered to cease normal operations until this subject is apprehended. The streets will be patrolled both to enforce this order and to help apprehend the subject. _

_ If you see this person, do  _ **_not_ ** _ approach or attempt to confront him. Report the sighting to any shinobi or police officer immediately.  _

_ Repeating:  _ **_This is not a test._ ** _ Villagers are ordered to return to their homes immediately, or to seek shelter in the nearest building. _

**_This order remains in effect until this subject is apprehended._ **

Sarada huffs, shutting the TV off and throwing the remote probably harder than she should.

“Well what the hell  _ else  _ am I supposed to do?!” she snaps at the cat, who sits silently judging her from her perch on the windowsill. 

She throws her head back and groans. Then, automatically, she pulls out her phone and flips it open.

She hits her contacts list and starts typing.

_ You okay?  _ She sends, in a group message to Mitsuki and Boruto.  _ What about Shikadai? _

A few minutes pass, with no reply. So she sends a message to Chouchou instead.

_ What’s up?  _ She messages, trying desperately to sound casual.

After maybe thirty seconds-

**_-I dunno. But dad called mom and she sounds really scared. Now she’s acting weird and she’s got all the curtains closed._ **

Finally. Someone’s talking to her. Sarada has to try not to cry from relief.

_ My dad is acting really weird too.  _

**_I heard on the TV that somethin creepy’s going on. N Inojin’s parents took off with him. He’s not answering when I try to call!_ **

Sarada curls up into a ball, clutching her phone like a lifeline.

**_Sarada, what’s goin on? All the adults are freaking out!_ **

_ Well- _

There’s no real point to lying, is there? So Sarada tells the truth.

_ Shikadai said he found something in the woods. And he did. Well- he found someONE. And that guy hurt him n Boruto n Mitsuki really bad. _

She sees Chouchou typing for a solid minute.

**_No way! What did he do?! What happened?! Are they gonna be alright?!_ **

_ I dunno. They’re in the hospital. Papa’s gone out with Naruto to try to find him.  _

**_That’s totally crazy! So he’s the weird guy we’re supposed to stay away from?! What’s he look like?!_ **

_ Really gross. And really scary. He did something really weird to Shikadai so- _

Sarada shudders, nearly dropping her phone.

_ And it’s not just that that’s weird. I found something out today. _

**_What?_ **

Sarada sighs again.

_ Hey Chou- you ever catch your parents hiding something from you? _

**_Besides the snacks they don’t want me knowing about? No- why?_ **

_ Cause I caught my dad hiding something n I think it’s something big. _

**_Oh? Are you gonna ask him about it?_ **

_ He won’t tell me the truth if I do. Papa’s always hiding things from me. _

**_So find out what the truth is for yourself. Then you can MAKE him tell you._ **

Sarada almost tells Chouchou that’s a stupid idea. But then it occurs to her-

Yeah. If somehow she could find proof Papa is hiding stuff, she can get him to admit it. Maybe. 

Problem is

-Where does she even begin?

_ But how do I prove it? _

**_I dunno. Maybe someone else knows what he’s hiding?_ **

Sarada supposes she could ask mom, but the problem is- Mama’s hidden stuff from her too. 

Maybe Naruto? That’s more likely. But still…

She has a feeling that he’ll want to help her father keep his secrets. So if she wants to find out, well-

Looks like she’s on her own.

Well. she’s kinda starting to feel hungry, so maybe she should make something to eat.

Cooking is surprisingly cathartic- no wonder Mama seems to love it so much.

She gets some rice going, and gets a pot going with some fresh garlic and onion and leftover vegetables and pork from dinner a day or so ago. Even though she’s not supposed to, once everything is done she sits down on the couch with a bowl of her makeshift stew, eating in the quiet loneliness of the empty house.

Even though she tries to occupy herself with other thoughts, but her brain keeps taking her back to her nagging doubts.

And now, as she sits staring into her half-empty bowl, she wonders-

_ That guy didn’t hurt me. And he had the same kind of ring with him that Papa was hiding... _

As soon as the thought occurs to her, she knows it’s a bad idea. But even so, she gets up off the couch, grabs her backpack off the coat rack, and once more heads into her father’s office. 

She snatches the ring and the photograph out of the drawer, tucking them safely into her backpack. Then she hurries back to the kitchen, filling up two bottles of water and stuffing the remaining food into a bento before packing that up as well.

This is a bad idea, she knows. And probably dangerous. But- she figures if it works she can knock out two birds with one stone, right? She can maybe get some of the answers she needs, and with a bit of luck she can make it so this guy doesn't hurt anyone else. So even Mama and Papa can’t be too mad at her-

Right?

She feels the nagging doubts in the back of her mind, even as she heads out and sneaks past the shinobi patrolling the now deserted streets, but she shoves it to the back of her mind.

She doesn't have time for doubts now.


End file.
